This invention relates to a trim assembly for automotive vehicle wheel and particularly to improved retaining members for retaining the trim assembly on the wheel of the vehicle.
Wheel trim in the form of a wheel cover to cover the entire wheel or a decorative ring for the outer circumferential portion of the wheel are frequently mounted on vehicle wheels but are difficult to maintain in position on the wheel because the wheel itself is subject to complex loading and stresses which tend to temporarily deform the wheel as a result of braking, vehicle loading, turning of the vehicle on curves and vibrations and shocks from the road surface. A wheel trim assembly such as a cover or ring when mounted on a wheel is subject to all such stresses and deflections and in addition, to the centrifical loading and inertia of the wheel trim assembly which causes a relative movement both circumferentially and axially of the wheel that ultimately results in separation and loss of the trim assembly or damage to the valve stem which often passes through an opening in the wheel trim assembly from the tire cavity.
The wheels on which wheel trim are used are generally of standard configuration without any special provision being made for the attachment of the wheel trim. Furthermore, such wheels are manufactured to relatively wide dimensional tolerances, For example, on a vehicle having fifteen inch diameter wheels, the wheels may vary as much as one-eighth of an inch from one another. Wheel trim assemblies must be able to accommodate such wide wheel dimensions and also, for economical reasons, it is desirable that the trim assemblies be allowed relatively wide manufacturing tolerances.
These problems make it difficult to economically provide a wheel trim assembly which will be retained firmly on the wheel despite rough service use and wide variations in manufacturing tolerances of both the wheel and the trim assembly.
These problems are further complicated because the vehicle wheels make little or no provision for attachment of wheel trim assemblies.